Max Holloway
Max Holloway is the current UFC featherweight champion. Rising Through The Ranks Holloway came into his UFC debut against fellow prospect Dustin Poirier undefeated on short notice, replacing an injured Ricardo Lamas. Poirier handed Holloway his first loss via first round triangle armbar submission from the full mount position. Holloway regained his standing, next facing Pat Schilling. Holloway dominated Schilling on the feet, taking him apart piece by piece with pinpoint kicks and body shots to earn a well-deserved decision win. Holloway next welcomed undefeated lightweight standout Justin Lawrence to the featherweight division, finishing him via technical knockout near the end of the second round after an exciting fight. Holloway next stepped in on ten days' notice to replace an injured Cody McKenzie against WEC and UFC veteran Leonard Garcia. Holloway defeated Garcia via a close split decision. Holloway next faced TUF veteran Dennis Bermudez, losing a very close and controversial split decision after a good fight. Holloway next stepped in on about a month's notice to replace Andy Ogle against undefeated Irish phenom Conor McGregor. McGregor dominated young Holloway en route to a unanimous decision victory to hand Holloway his second straight loss. First Big Title Run Holloway next signed to fight newcomer Will Chope in Singapore defeating Chope via a blistering second round TKO after a tough first round. Holloway wasted little time in signing a few weeks later to fight Andre Fili. After a competitive fight Holloway defeated Fili via a third round guillotine choke submission. Holloway next fought late replacement and newcomer Clay Collard defeating Collard via a dominant but exciting third round TKO. Holloway next replaced Robert Whiteford against TUF veteran Akira Corassani in Corassani's native Sweden, knocking out Corassani in the first round. Holloway wasted little time in next signing to face another TUF and UFC veteran in Cole Miller. Holloway defeated the veteran via a convincing unanimous decision. He then fought another veteran in Cub Swanson, picking up the most impressive victory of his career by dominating Swanson en route to a third round guillotine choke submission. Holloway next signed to fight fellow rising contender Charles Oliveira. He defeated Oliveira via a bizarre and anti-climactic first round injury TKO after Oliveira suffered a freak neck injury. Nevertheless Holloway next signed to fight another contender in Jeremy Stephens, defeating Stephens via a comfortable unanimous decision. Holloway didn't fight much over the next year or so, although he did defeat another contender Ricardo Lamas via an entertaining unanimous decision in June 2016. Finally Fighting For the Title Holloway finally signed to fight former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, ostensibly finally for the chance to fight for the title. After the headliner of the event UFC light-heavyweight champion Dan Cormier was injured the fight between Pettis and Holloway was bumped up to the main event of UFC 206 in December 2016. The fight would now be for the UFC interim featherweight title which was strange since Jose Aldo was already the interim champion.. It was possibly an early sign that the UFC was going to strip 'undisputed' UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor of the 'main title' for failure to defend it in a year's time. Indeed, McGregor was soon stripped of the title. Aldo became the 'undisputed' UFC featherweight champion and would fight a unification bout with the winner of the 'interim title fight' between Pettis and Holloway. If that wasn't silly enough, at the weigh-ins Pettis missed weight by three pounds - the first fighter in nearly a decade to miss weight for a UFC title fight - and lost his dubious opportunity to fight for the UFC interim featherweight title. (He would doubtless still receive the opportunity to fight Aldo for the 'undisputed title' if he beat Holloway.) The fight was still on but only Holloway would still receive the title if he won. Holloway stepped up to the occasion regardless, steadily overwhelming and beating up Pettis en route to a third round TKO victory, the first time that the durable Pettis had ever been finished. With the victory Holloway became the interim UFC featherweight champion and would unify the titles with 'undisputed' champ Aldo. The Champ Is HERE Holloway scored a considerable upset defeating Aldo via a third round TKO after a fairly competitive fight. He called out former featherweight champ and current lightweight champ Conor McGregor for a rematch but nothing seemed to come of it. He was next set to make his first title defense against former UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar but Edgar was injured. He was replaced by Aldo, whom Holloway defeated once again by TKO. When the fight with Edgar was rescheduled, this time Holloway was injured and replaced by undefeated rising phenom Brian Ortega who made history by handing Edgar, the "Rocky" of MMA of sorts, his first loss by knockout. To say the least, schedulingOrtega vs. Holloway for Holloway's second title defense was a no-brainer. Fights *Max Holloway vs. Justin Lawrence - The fight was the featherweight debut and first loss of Justin Lawrence. *Max Holloway vs. Leonard Garcia - Despite the fourth straight loss, Leonard Garcia wasn't cut from the UFC. Young prodigy Holloway was a late replacement for an injured Cody McKenzie. *Max Holloway vs. Will Chope *Max Holloway vs. Akira Corassani *Max Holloway vs. Cole Miller *Max Holloway vs. Cub Swanson *Max Holloway vs. Charles Oliveira *Max Holloway vs. Jeremy Stephens *Max Holloway vs. Ricardo Lamas *Max Holloway vs. Jose Aldo 1 - The fight was to unify the "undisputed" UFC featherweight title held by Jose Aldo with Holloway's interim title. Category:Featherweight fighters Category:Prospects